Album Reviews : Copia – Eleven : Eleven

It is bands like Copia that should make fans of alternative hard rock/progressive metal feel proud to be Australian. The production level on the band’s debut full length album Eleven : Eleven is outstanding, and the band excel at every point of the musicianship in only the first few seconds of the albums opening track, “Paratus”. And it only gets better from there on out. In only the first minute of “Paratus”, I was hooked. Yep, these guys are that good!

While it’s possible Copia may cop a bit of flak for vocalists Andrew Bishop’s almost pop-like style, it wasn’t something I felt overly detracted from the album. And if you’re already a fan of bands who offer that such as the newer-era styling’s of Elvenking, then I doubt these vocals will bother you much. But even if you’re not, this is still an album that’s worth the time of setting aside personal biases and criticisms. It’s the sort of record that deserves at least that. I mean, you’ve got to respect the clear level of time, dedication, and emotion that has been poured into making this record.

Likely drawing its influences from across the whole spectrum of hard rock and prog metal bands, there are moments on Eleven : Eleven where you’ll hear Dream Theater and others where you’ll hear Rush. But don’t let that fool you. By no means does this album come off as a poor replica of those bands. In fact, it’s rather the contrary. Copia has built a solid musical apparatus here and they wield it ambidextrously to great effect. It’s only that you’ll occasionally hear moments that’ll remind you of those bands, but at no real point does this record come across as anything other than a Copia record. This is them, through-and-through. The best definition of who Copia is. And of the clutch-hold they have over this rock-driven progressive vehicle.

The strong symphonic moments that flutter throughout the album is a real highlight, and further serves to augment the beautifully melodic and aurally fixating synthesized moments as well. There’s a lot to enjoy about this album, and even though the track list may seem slightly a bit longer than it probably needs to be, again I don’t feel it overly detracts much from the ‘feel’ of the record.

That being said, however, unlike Teramaze’s recent album, Esoteric Symbolism, this isn’t really the sort of soaring prog metal album you may be expecting. While it does have its moments like that, I feel Eleven : Eleven is more the sort of album better suited to musing worldly questions while watching the stars or something as opposed to straight-up epic headbanging material. But that in itself has its own merit, and the chilled rock undertones on this record make it an engaging experience and one I’d recommend. It’s basically an easy-listening alternative rock/prog metal album. And by that point alone, I imagine it’ll also have a good chance of reaching those who wouldn’t otherwise necessarily bother purchasing a metal record normally. And that in itself is a commendable feat.

Jonathon is an aspiring fantasy/sci-fi novelist and music journalist. Thanks to the influence of the music he grew up with, he has always possessed a keen interest in metal and rock. He is also a huge fan of mythology, legend, and folklore from all across the world. You should follow him on Twitter.